The proliferation of e-commerce has created a commensurate increase in need for packaging solutions that are appropriate in the shipment of consumer products. Nonetheless, despite the growing demand for effective shipment packaging, online purchase fulfillment remains most commonly processed using single-use, fixed-size boxes.
E-commerce shipment boxes are most commonly constructed from a preformed, unitary blank that is constructed of a rigid, durable and inexpensive material, such as cardboard or plastic. The blank is shaped to define a plurality of panels that are typically separated by areas of weakness, such as fold lines. Accordingly, as part of the assembly process, the blank is folded about the fold lines to erect the box, with the shape secured through the use of interlocking panels and/or an adhesive.
Although well-known and widely used in the art, boxes formed from a preformed blank, as described above, suffer from a notable drawback. Notably, boxes formed from a preformed blank are fixed in size and thereby incapable of dimensional variability. However, due to the near limitless variety of different products currently available online, packaging requirements can vary considerably depending upon the size and shape of the items ultimately shipped to the purchaser.
As a result, online businesses and e-commerce fulfillment centers often maintain a comprehensive inventory of differently dimensioned boxes. Yet, it has been found that online purchase fulfillment remains largely incapable of packaging and shipping products within an appropriately-sized box. Rather, current studies have indicated online purchases are most commonly packaged in an inefficient fashion, with the average e-commerce package containing approximately 40% of empty, or void, space.
The aforementioned inefficiency in the packaging of products ordered online has been found to create a number of notable shortcomings.
As a first shortcoming, the use of a container that is considerably larger than the products packaged therein results in a corresponding increase in packaging costs. In particular, a greater amount of material is required to form the box itself, with the amount of excess packaging material often exceeding 15% of the amount of corresponding material required to construct an ideally-sized package. Additionally, a substantial about of package filler is typically needed to fill in the empty space within a conventional e-commerce box to prevent product movement and potential damage during shipment, with the amount of excess package filler often exceeding 60% of the amount of corresponding package filler needed in an ideally-sized package.
As a second shortcoming, the use of a container that is considerably larger than the products packaged therein results in a corresponding increase in transportation costs. Notably, storage and delivery costs are typically directly proportional to the size and/or weight of a shipped item. Therefore, an unnecessarily oversized package creates transportation inefficiencies (i.e. increased weight and smaller payloads) for couriers that are, in turn, often financially borne by the consumer. In fact, it has been found that the transportation cost associated with traditional, inefficiently-sized, e-commerce packages often exceeds 20% of the corresponding transportation cost for an ideally-sized package.